Enquiries of a Personal Matter
by AssortedScribbler
Summary: Two missing scenes from 'The Millennium Bug' Series 2, Episode 13. Mildred & Miss Drill. Miss Cackle & Miss Hardbroom.


**Disclaimer: **I don't own the Worst Witch, or the wonderful Kate Duchene, without whom I would have no inspiration for these fics at all.

**A/N:** I have no idea where this came from, I hadn't even been thinking about Worst Witch, and this sprang into being. Hope you approve.

**Summary:** Two missing scenes from 'The Millennium Bug' Series 2, Episode 13. Mildred & Miss Drill. Miss Cackle & Miss Hardbroom.

**Enquiries of a Personal Matter**

"Come on Millie!" Maud called from the air above, already on her broomstick, with her cat basket swinging on the back end. Mildred looked up and waved a little.

"Go on, I'll be right behind you!" She raised her voice to reply, and her best friend looked a little doubtful but turned in the direction they both needed for home. Mildred slipped her own, restless-sounding cat in his very own basket over her broom, her satchel secured around her shoulders already.

"I'd hurry if I were you Mildred. Have a nice holiday." Miss Drill said cheerfully, as she passed by the young witch. Looking around, Mildred grinned, the prospect of warm meals and being able to wear whatever she liked obviously an appealing one.

"You too, Miss Drill. See you when we're back." The teacher nodded and made to head towards the sports storeroom, no doubt wanting to check her precious equipment before heading out to her own life for the holiday. Mildred bit her lip, wondering if she should ask, whether she had a right to ask, but deciding that she simply couldn't let the opportunity pass by without saying something. "Miss Drill!" She called, catching the PE teacher's attention again and beckoning her back over. "I wanted to ask – well, not so much ask as I was wondering..."

"Yes, Mildred?" The teacher cut across the usual slight bumbling of words that sometimes was customary when discussing something with Mildred Hubble, especially if she was nervous.

"Well, you could have stopped us. I know you must have over-heard us at least four or five times this morning, before Amanda Honeydew arrived, but you just pretended not to hear. I guess I was wondering why." Mildred admitted, quietly, conscious that her teacher probably wouldn't want that knowledge being made common knowledge, or at least publicised to the rest of the staff. For a moment, the young woman seemed a little surprised, her eyebrows twitched upwards and she flicked a quick look around the courtyard to check no one else was listening. Although there was at least one person they both knew whom they didn't have a chance of checking wasn't eavesdropping.

"There are some things as a teacher I cannot possibly condone, Mildred. But there are certain things as a person I cannot interfere with, either." There was a slight, mischievous smile forming around Miss Drill's mouth as she spoke and Millie grinned, glad to find out that the most reasonable teacher had approved of their scheme.

"Thank you, Miss Drill." Mildred said all in one breath, happiness lifting her entire expression.

"No, Mildred. Thank you." The teacher replied quietly, meaning in her eyes that made the young girl swell with pride. Then, with a twinkle, Mildred voiced her next query.

"We always thought you two hated each other." Her voice was again lowered to an undetectable level for anyone but Miss Drill, and again, she saw a flash of shock fly through the gym mistress' face.

"I can't imagine what you mean, Mildred." The slight curve of Imogen's mouth said otherwise, but Mildred knew her teacher couldn't agree with her.

"Well, I'd have thought you'd like having a swimming pool, a proper gym, more equipment." Ethel had told them all what they would be missing out on if they went through with the plan, just to be fair, but it hadn't persuaded anyone to back down. Miss Drill nodded once, her eyes a little wistful but as her gaze slid up the imposing architecture of the castle, she seemed determined.

"It's a question of compromise, Mildred, and I knew that when I took the job here. There are certain things you can do without, and certain things you can't." The non-specific wording didn't fool the pupil for one second, and Mildred grinning up at her teacher.

"That's what we decided." Millie said, still looking around to check for outside ears.

"You seemed in a hurry to get shot of her when you were in the Hall." Miss Drill replied, a little harshly perhaps but Mildred knew now what they'd said had been quite hurtful – a concept they never really considered when talking about HB, who seemed to lack human feelings so much of the time. Ironic, considering how much Millie now suspected their potions' mistress kept wrapped up inside those black dresses and crushed into the space her heart occupied.

"I didn't realise how it sounded then. After talking to Miss Hardbroom, I really thought about it, and I just couldn't imagine Cackle's without her." The young girl finally said, gently and with a warmth that was all heart. Her PE teacher smiled at her, a flash of pride in her eyes.

"It was a good thing you did for her, Mildred." Imogen chanced saying with a smile that mirrored her pupil's, before stepping back and nodding towards the sky. "You'd better get going." Mildred looked around and saw an alarming amount of distance between Maud and herself, and rapidly hurried aboard her broomstick, her voice stern and commanding as she instructed it up into the sky and out of the castle grounds. Miss Drill waved at her back, and smiled. For such a clumsy, un-subtle girl, Mildred Hubble was probably the most intuitive pupil Imogen had ever taught.

.~*~. .~*~. .~*~. .~*~.

"Another term, another triumph." Miss Cackle happily sighed, as she waved to the last of the girls disappearing over the woods on their brooms. Her Deputy was stood beside her, eyes also on the girls, sharp eyes checking for wobbling sticks or dangerous flying, no doubt. The silence that greeted her statement spoke enough on its own – Constance could hardly agree the end of term had been a triumph, as the mischief that had occurred had been on her behalf, and the result from the trouble was to her liking. But somewhere underneath the vague disapproval, under the layers of professionalism, Amelia knew the younger woman was smiling.

"I'm glad you decided to re-think your decision, Constance." The Headmistress said warmly as they finally turned from the woods and began to make their way back inside the Academy. She chanced a look at the pale face of her companion and was surprised to find a hint of a smile around those dark lips.

"Thank you, Headmistress." Constance's tone, while as clipped as usual, told Amelia that her Deputy had no more wanted to leave than Amelia had wanted to see her go. It was a welcome piece of knowledge that it would have grieved her potion's mistress to have resigned from Cackle's permanently. They reached the main doors of the school and both women paused, one final look around the courtyard and Amelia glanced one final time in the direction her pupils had flown, but the mist from the mountain had already enveloped them. Constance folded her arms and made to disappear, probably having plans and potions to attend to. But Amelia had one last point to air, because there were times when you simply could not leave the majority unsaid.

"Constance, just a moment." The tightly folded arms remained, but an eyebrow arched, consent to speak again. "If you ever doubted how much your girls care for you, I think you have your evidence now." Miss Cackle smiled, just as her Deputy looked up, a steel to her eye that attempted to dissuade the other woman from continuing that line of inquiry. "I know you told Mildred why you were leaving. Do you think it a mere coincidence that a few hours later, the entire student body is up in arms, defending the castle from Amanda Honeydew, a woman they admired and were looking forward to meeting only the day before? A pop star you were worried would encourage bad habits." The idea now seemed a little ludicrous, considering how the girls had reacted, and the decision the younger woman had made concerning the school's future.

The potion mistress' expression before her twitched slightly, but didn't reveal anything. Amelia hadn't expected her to.

"They couldn't imagine a Cackle's without you. And neither could I." The truth of her statement was obvious, and the older woman would guess her colleague already knew they were meant sincerely and completely, but Miss Cackle felt this time, they needed to be heard aloud. To her surprise, the purple lips that were usually so straight curved upwards, gently and Amelia tried not to reveal the slight shock of how young and pretty the action revealed her Deputy to be. Constance was truly smiling, responding to the compliment, enjoying it for however brief a moment. Then, in the blink of an eye, the tall, imposing woman disappeared. Chuckling herself, the Headmistress shook her head affectionately and headed for her own office, glad the younger woman understood and appreciated what the girls had done for her.


End file.
